Turkey

[Isgrimnur]

Reuters

Turkey will send troops to Libya at the request of Tripoli as soon as next month, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, putting the North African country’s conflict at the center of wider regional frictions.

Libya’s internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli has been struggling to fend off General Khalifa Haftar’s forces, which have been supported by Russia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan.

An official in Tripoli confirmed a formal request had been made for Turkish military support in the air, on the ground and at sea.

The official, who asked not to be named, spoke after the GNA’s interior minister, Fathi Bashagha, suggested in comments to reporters in Tunis that no such request had yet been made.

[Isgrimnur]

AP News

The Trump administration on Monday imposed sanctions on its NATO ally Turkey over its purchase of a Russian air defense system, in a striking move against a longtime partner that sets the stage for further confrontation between the two nations as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office.

The extraordinary step against a treaty ally comes at a delicate time in relations between Washington and Ankara, which have been at odds for years over Turkey’s acquisition from Russia of the S-400 missile defense system, along with Turkish actions in Syria, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in the eastern Mediterranean.

The sanctions, which were required under a 2017 U.S. law aimed at pushing back on Russia if the administration deemed there was significant cause, add another element of uncertainty to the relationship as Trump winds down his term. The move is the first time that law, known as CAATSA, has been used to penalize a U.S. ally.

[Isgrimnur]

Reuters

Anxious Turks struggled to keep up with a bewildering collapse in their currency and the main opposition party leader said the country was experiencing its darkest "catastrophe" as the lira slumped 15% on Tuesday against the dollar.

Tuesday's meltdown follows weeks of steep falls in the lira which have already driven up prices, leaving ordinary Turks reconsidering everything from their holiday plans to weekly grocery shopping.
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Erdogan has pressured the central bank to slash interest rates in a move he says will boost exports, investment and jobs, but which critics say will further fuel double-digit inflation and erode the lira, cutting deeply into Turks' earnings.

Shoppers at a central Ankara mall said they could not take their eyes off the lira rate, which plunged as far as 13.45 to the dollar on Tuesday. A year ago it was 8 to the dollar, last month it reached 9 and last week it hit 10.

[Max Peck]

Turkish cleric accused of planning failed 2016 coup dies

Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish cleric accused of masterminding a bloody attempted coup in 2016, has died aged 83, the Turkish foreign minister has confirmed.

The cleric, who had been living in self-imposed exile in the US, died after being admitted to a Pennsylvania hospital, according to reports in Turkish media.

Sometimes described as Turkey's second most powerful man, Gulen was the spiritual leader of the Gulen movement, a powerful Islamic community with followers in Turkey and worldwide.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the Gulen movement for the 2016 attempted coup, accusations Gulen denied.

Speaking at a press conference in Ankara, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said intelligence sources had confirmed Gulen's death, describing him as the leader of a "dark organisation".